Hi Everyone, I am new to this site. I decided last week that Monday just gone, was going to be the first day of the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I have also just found out that I have a heart problem and until they get to the bottom of it, I can't exercise. All I have been advised to do is 15 minutes of slight brisk walking!

Does anyone else have the problem of trying to lose weight and not able to exercise much? How is it going?

I don't do much exercise because I know that when I finish this I probably won't stick to it and I want to be able to complete this by doing foods and things that I know I will continue with afterwards because I don't want to have the problems of all the weight going straight back on. What I have done is mainly drop the portion sizes to correct ones unless i have too many calories remaining and these days I will up it or add items enough to make sure I have met my calorie intake. I also occasionally have take always or meals out because I know that I will do this also when I have finished at times so try to make sure I do this now so that I don't do anything much different to normal, I have currently lost 1stone 8 lbs since November.

That is good going. I didn't think the weight loss would be that much without exercise. I also go out for meals and don't want that to stop, I just need to make the right choices (most of the time) when I do. I haven't really looked into the amount of calories I am taking in. I have just thought, plenty of veg, plenty of fruit! I did only start Monday, maybe I should check the calories in what I have planned to eat the rest of the week.

Hi Burn_EE3 and welcome. Sorry to hear about your heart problem, I hope that they sort it out for you soon.

I pretty much concur with what HubbysMissMouse has just said, she's just put it more succinctly than I could.

The NHS 12 week plan can help lead you to ways of eating well and at the required levels that will allow you to lose weight. An administrator will reply shortly and provide you with lots of useful information to help you make good decisions on how to move forward.

I'm so sorry to hear that you have a heart problem and hope that this can be sorted quickly and effectively.

Don't worry about not being able to exercise much, weight loss is mainly about your diet anyway

Take a look at the Pinned posts section to the right of your screen (bottom if you're using a mobile), read the Welcome Newbie thread, then move through to the challenges, where we hope you'll find at least one that will appeal to you.

Move down to the Topics, to find a variety of threads, collated into specific topics for ease of access and we ask that you also 'file' your own threads, so that others won't miss your important news.

Take a look at the 12 week plan, as a lot of people have been successful with it, making sure to enter your details into the BMI calculator, to get a calorie allowance tailored to your personal requirements. Don't forget to take your starting measurements and a 'before' picture, as they can be very motivating on days that the scales refuse to co-operate.

We run daily weigh-in's and you'd be very welcome to join us. The threads can always be found in the Events section, to the right of the home page, bottom on a mobile.

We've found that to get the best out of this community, we need to be active on the forum, as it's where we exchange information, get motivation and inspiration and make friends. We hope that you'll join us here, regularly, too.

Hi. Sorry I hear you are having some health problems, I hope you can get that sorted. I believe that weight loss is linked far more to diet then exercise. You would have to do so much exercise to undo eating too many calories. As long as you take in less calories than your body needs you will lose weight. I found when I did more exercise it made me feel hungrier so I wanted to eat more. Also I gave myself treats saying to myself it was ok because I had been to the gym but I might have eaten more calories than I just burnt off. Good luck with losing weight. You can do it!

I agree. Eating an all round healthy diet with lots of low cal fruit and veg will help with weight loss.

Like the OP, I can't do any more than pottering around since my cardiac arrest last year. I had to rest several times yesterday while changing the curtains in our bedroom then always rest between parts of making the bed.....no running or even walking round the block any time soon.

Im a total slob and I have lost 1 stone 10 lbs so far, since november. This week just past ive been cycling, but before 1 week ago i did virtually no exercise, I have a desk job and the school run twice a day (total 30 mins walk per day) was most of my exercise. I do have an allotment too, but there's not much to do in the winter. Diet is the thing, exercise is the icing on the cake. Good luck!

The good news is that it is perfectly possible to lose weight through diet alone. I have a physical disability that I don't have a lot of mobility (use an electric wheelchair outside the house) - I managed to lose my first 2 stone just through logging what I ate: counting calories and reducing my portion sizes.

Once I had lost 2 stone, I was able to start with some exercise (swimming once a week). However, I think that most of my weight loss now continues through keeping an eye on what I eat. Some days I hardly break even with calories (my maintenance calories, as I am only 4ft 9" and sedentary) are just 1,300 - which doesn't go very far!

You may be interested in reading a couple of other posts that I put up just after I joined here:

Thank you Pineapple27, I will certainly read them. My problem I think, won't so much be the eating healthy, it will be the calorie counting! I will get there, though. And with all the support I have already had on this site, it will be easier than I imagined.

I am similar to you, I joined the site last week and find it very helpful , I have a suspected congenital heart disease that means I can't do moderate to high impact exercise yet, I have to see a cardiologist at the end of March, till then I have keep it low.

I walk 20 mins in the morning and 20 mins in the evening. If you stick to your calorie allowance without excercise you will still lose weight, my loss has usually been around 2lb sometimes 1lb.

But with a regular loss, it can mount to a good weight loss by summer 😊

Sorry to hear about your medical issues, hope they'll soon be resolved for you. Until quite recently I can honestly say I did no exercise at all, sedentary job, all that. When I decided to try and lose some weight I lost my first half-stone without doing any more exercise than usual, and only then decided to start moving a bit - as much because I'm getting older and don't want to seize up as anything else! Diet is definitely the key to weight loss, the exercise is for other things such as toning up and keeping everything in the best possible working order. If you do tons of it of course it'll burn calories but not as many as you might think - so please don't be put off by the fact that you're (hopefully temporarily) unable to knock out a marathon a month just at present!

Hi, AnnTandy. I suppose I have always associated exercise with weight loss. I am already older and have been putting it off and putting it off! But, I am now prepared to grab the bull by the horns and get on with it. Thank you